Colbert County School District parent navigator Last updated 09/09/2026
Colbert County's PACE program serves qualified students in Grades 3-5 through creative and academically challenging activities at five elementary schools. Families can request a referral through the school counselor, and the district uses Alabama's multiple-criteria eligibility process.
Independent from Colbert County School District. Official district instructions always control.
When your family may need to act
Use the row that matches your child's grade and situation. Dates below come from the linked district instructions; confirm them before submitting.
Enrolled students age six and older; PACE direct services begin in Grade 3
Standard referrals may be submitted throughout the year. Start with the school guidance counselor and confirm current local processing dates.
Verify with the district ↗How Bloomfield Academy helps
Use the Parent Guide free. Choose Navigator when you want the process managed around your child. Choose Mentor when you want to connect that local opportunity to a longer-term interest, real projects, and a private record of growth. Bloomfield turns Program for Academic and Creative Enrichment (PACE) into three clear layers of support.
Get the local program name, grades, identification process, services, deadlines, parent steps, and official instructions—all in plain language.
Navigator adds a child-specific timeline, deadline and policy alerts, a guided checklist, and one place to organize forms, work samples, and questions for the school.
Mentor includes Navigator plus a 12-week pathway, four short weekly challenges, one substantial monthly project, a Friday parent insight, and a private Growth Portfolio.
What the official record confirms
Applicable school year: 2026-27. Bloomfield separates official requirements from our preparation guidance.
Published coverageDirect PACE services in Grades 3-5; all second graders participate in gifted Child Find observation
Published processTeachers, counselors, administrators, families, peers, students, and other knowledgeable people may refer. All second graders are observed with a gifted-behavior checklist. The district gathers aptitude, characteristics, and performance information and applies Alabama's points matrix.
Published modelPACE provides creative, innovative, and challenging activities for qualified students in Grades 3-5. The district identifies PACE teachers serving Colbert Heights, New Bethel, Cherokee, Hatton, and Leighton elementary schools, so families can verify the current school assignment locally.
Your family's route
This plan translates the published process without changing it. Confirm current district instructions before submitting.
Adds the date and task to one family plan, with alerts before it becomes urgent.
Turns the district language into a short list of questions to confirm with your school.
Provides guided prompts and one private place to organize authentic examples and documents.
Tracks forms, confirmations, and any related enrollment or transfer step.
Keeps the decision, follow-up, and appeal questions together so the next move is clear.
Application support
District forms and prompts vary. This annotated, fictional example shows how to turn a real observation into useful evidence without copying language or inventing accomplishments.
Explore the annotated example →What have you observed that shows your child may need greater depth, complexity, or pace?
“After her model failed, Maya changed one part at a time, recorded each result, and explained why the designs failed differently.”
Parent-to-parent
Share practical, firsthand wisdom about Program for Academic and Creative Enrichment (PACE). Parent experience is kept separate from the official program facts above.
Trust is part of the product
The program facts above come from the linked official sources. Bloomfield's checklist translates those facts into practical next steps without predicting selection or presenting parent anecdotes as district policy.
Supported by the district links and applicable school year shown on this guide.
A plain-language explanation or constructive preparation recommendation.
Shown only when it is dated, moderated, and clearly labeled—not as an official rule.
Primary sources
Last updated 09/09/2026. Program rules can change; verify the current school year with Colbert County School District before acting.